Maratha Quota Protest: Manoj Jarange’s Talks With Govt Panel End Inconclusively; CM Fadnavis Says ‘Working To Resolve Issue’

Maratha Quota Protest: Talks between Maratha quota rights activist Manoj Jarange and the government-appointed delegation ended inconclusively in Mumbai on Saturday. The delegation was headed by former Justice Sandeep Shinde. Post the meeting, Jarange hit out against Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for sending a former Judge to negotiate for his demands of reservations to the Marathas. 

"It is not the job of Justice Shinde to issue a Government Resolution announcing the grant of reservation to Marathas," Jarange said and vowed to continue with his hunger strike at the Azad Maidan in South Mumbai. 

The Maharashtra government had deputed the delegation earlier in the day to hold talks with Manoj Jarange. The whole discussion between the delegation and Jarange was beamed live on Marathi news channels. After the inconclusive talk, Jarange filed an application with the Mumbai Police seeking permission to continue quota agitation at the Azad Maidan for another day. The request is being considered positively, an official said, adding that a decision on it would be taken in some time.\

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Maratha Quota Protest: Top Updates

• Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said his government was working to address the demands of Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange within the legal and constitutional framework. The 10 per cent reservation provided to the Maratha community last year (under the Socially and Economically Backwards Classes category) was still in force, he said.

• The main demand of Jarange is that Marathas be recognised as the Kunbis, an agrarian caste included in the OBC category, which will make them eligible for reservation in government jobs and education.

• Jarange said that the committee under retired judge Shinde has studied the Hyderabad and Satara gazettes for the past 13 months, and now it was time for the panel to submit the final report.

• But Justice Shinde has denied any authority to give such a kind of report, stating that this can only be done by the backward class commission. However, he told the reporters that the cabinet had given in-principle approval to the Hyderabad Gazette, and that he himself would brief the cabinet sub-committee on the details of their discussion with Jarange. 

• Meanwhile, NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar said a constitutional amendment was necessary to resolve these issues, as there is a ceiling on overall reservations. "As many as 80 per cent Marathas are dependent on farming, but agriculture alone cannot secure their future, making reservations the only option," he said.